Work holding unit for vises



' y 6, 1952 c. E. PETERSEN 2,595,699

WORK HOLDING UNIT FOR VISES Filed July 15, 1951 INVENT OR. 6/151 [P1752557 Patented May 6, 1952 UNITED STATES I PATENT OFFICE,

ORK HO I NIT FOR ISES Carl E. Petersen, Brooklyn, N. Y., assignor of thirty per cent to Dagmar G. :Wallin, Brooklyn,

Application July 13, 1951, Serial No. 236,581

4 Claims. 1

This invention relates to a work holder and in particulartdone adapted for use in aviseQ Iiithe toolmakerfland other fine industrial machine work where precision is a factor in the production of parts, it is essential that the parts being 'worked on be held securely, and that slippage of the work with a resultant inaccuracy in the close working tolerances be prevented. It is 'anobject of the invention, therefore, to providea work holder that has a rigid jaw face confronting a replaceable and arcuately slidable jaw face for accommodating workpieces of different shape and size, that can be gripped by the jaws of a vise so as to effectively and securely hold-the work against accidental displacement, and that can quickly and readily be mounted in the vise by the tool maker so as to hold the work at a convenient angle and without the ne-, cessity of fine adjustment or other time consumin'g manipulation.

A further object of the invention is to provide a work holder of the character referred to, in which the work is self seating so that the entire gripping areas of the jaws f the holder are effective in their'holding functions,

With these and other objects in view, the invention comprises certain construction hereinafter described and then particularly pointed out in the claims and a preferred embodiment of my invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing in which:

Figure 1 is a view in perspective of a work holder constructed in accordance with my invention,

Figure 2 is a vertical edge view of the work holder looking into the work receiving portion thereof,

Figure 3 is a side view in elevation showing the relation of the parts of the holder positioned between the jaws of a vise,

Figure 4 is a view similar to Figure 3 showing the initial work engaging action of the holder, and

Figure 5 is a view similar to Figure 4 showing the holder fully closed and the self seating action of the work therein.

Referring to the drawing in detail, In indicates in outline a vise of the well known type having the movable and fixed jaws between which my novel work holder is to be positioned. The work holder indicated generally by the numeral H consists of two arms 12 and I3, formed to provide, at their lower extremities, interfitting ears l4 through which passes a bolt l5 for pivotally connecting the arms for opening and closing movement, the opening movement being limited by a protuberant portion l6 formed on the ear of the arm [2. The arms are yieldably' maintained inopen or spread position as in Figure 3 by a coil spring H, the ends of which are seated in wells 18 bored in the inner faces of said arms. The bolt [5, which is headed at one end as at IS, may carry at its opposite end any suitable type of nut but for a purpose to be later described, is illustrated as carrying a wing or thumb nut 20.

The arms are each shaped to provide external shoulders 21, whose bottom edges 22 are in horizontal alignment when the holder is being closed between the jawsof the vise so that the holder is vertically positioned. The shoulders also facilitate the placing of the holder in the vise as they afford a support for the holder so that it need not be held by the tool maker when the work W is being positioned and the vise being adjusted. The arm i3 is formed at its upper extremity with a jaw portion 23 extending obliquely therefrom and presenting an inner jaw face 24 which is adjustable to a position parallel with the parts of the arm !2. The latter is formed at its upper end with an obliquely disposed jaw portion 25 having an inner arcuate face 26 constituting a seat for a slide 27 having an arcuate face 28 matching the face 26, and a flat face 29. The inner upper edge of the arm l2 has a projection 30 for engagement with the inner face of arm l3 so that when the holder is closed beyond the position shown in Figure 5, for holding thinner work than shown, the inner edge of the slide as well as the projection 30 can engage the inner face of arm 13 and the face 29 of the slide will be parallel with the inner face 24 of the jaw 23. Thus, thin stock can be positioned for gripping in the holder without depending upon the automatic positioning of heavier work. The slide 27 can be fluted on its face 29 or can be of soft material depending upon the work being held.

The slide 21 is provided with a depending finger tab 3| which projects through a slot 32 in the jaw 25 and therebeyond for manual adjustment against the resistance of a spring 33, pocketed in a suitable bore or seat 34 in the bottom of the jaw and in engagement with a guide tongue 35 on said tab 3!.

In Figure 3 the work W has been placed in the holder and in Figure 4 the closing action of the vise brings the jaw 23 of the holder into contact with the work. Thereafter the pressure exerted by the device as shown in Figure 5 causes a downward pressure of jaw 23 on the work and the slide 21 automatically adjusts itself along its seat 26 until the work is parallel with and gripped evenly throughout its area, by the jaw 25. When the slide 21 is at the innermost limit of its travel its face will be parallel to the face 24 of jaw 23 and due to its sliding movement the face will be parallel depending upon the thickness of the work W held.

The use of a wing nut 20 makes it possible to retain the work securely in the holder by holding the arms l2 and 13 in any adjusted position, so that the work can be moved as a unit with the holder, when the latter is removed from the vise if desired.

The slide may be removed from the holder by detachmen of the spring 33 so that it can be re- I placed by another slide having a face of different shape or material.

It is evident that my improved holder can be dropped into a vise which is then closed to cause the holder to automatically adjust the work therein for effective clamping action, the jaws of the holder being disposed obliquely so that the work is presented at a convenient angle to the operator.

My invention is not to be restricted to the precise details of construction shown since various changes and modifications may be made therein without departing from the scope of the inven-- tion or sacrificing the advantages to be derived from its use. I

What I claim is:

1. A work holding unit to be mounted in a vise, comprising a pair of pivoted jaws, a jaw portion at the upper end of each arm, the jaws extending obliquely to said arms, one jaw having an arcuate face and being bored to provide a passage therein, a slide having an arcuate face corresponding to the arcuate face of said jaw, a tab projecting from said slide through said passage and beyond said jaw to provide a finger piece for manual manipulation of said slide, and pivot means for the jaws adjustable to hold the jaws closed when the unit is removed from the vise.

2. A Work holding unit to be mounted in a vise,

comprising a pair of pivoted arms, a jaw portion at the upper end of each arm, the jaws extending obliquely to said arms, one jaw having an arcuate face and being bored to provide a passage therein, a slide having an arcuate face corresponding to the arcuate face of said jaw, a tab projecting from said slide through said passage and beyond said jaw to provide a finger piece for manual manipulation of said slide, a spring for urging said slide in one direction and said slide being removable from said jaw.

3. A work holding unit for use in a vise, comprising pivoted spring opened arms presenting shoulder portions for supporting the unit in the vise and each arm having an obliquely extending jaw portion, said jaws having fiat and arcuate opposed faces and one of the jaws having a projection thereon for engagement with the inner surface of the opposing arm when the arms are closed, a work supporting slide having a fiat face and being mounted on the arcuate face of the jaw, a spring for urging the slide toward the open end of said jaws and a finger tab for manually moving the slide inwardly to engage the opposing arm when the unit is closed, to position the fiat face of said slide parallel to the flat face of the opposing jaw.

4. A work holding unit as set forth in claim 3 including pivot means for the jaws adjustable to hold the jaws closed when the unit is removed from the vise.

CARL E. PETERSEN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,489,057 St. Laurence Nov. 22, 1949 2,532,952 Schmitt Dec. 5, 1950 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 966,913 France Mar. 15, 1950 

